General Study Habits of High-School Pupils

Abstract

Problem and procedure.-Everyone who does any kind of work must have a plan to work by so that time and energy will not be wasted. The worker, whether he be in school or in industry, must decide what he is to do and plan at least how and where to begin. There is no task so small that it does not need to be carefully planned in advance. Without planning, the complex work of the world could never be done. Many pupils in high schools never plan their work, and the result is that they go to classes without any preparation. Undoubtedly, failure in secondary school is often due to the pupil's neglect in planning and in budgeting his time. With these thoughts in mind, the writers made a survey to ascertain whether pupils are using the general study habits which should be common to all subjects. A self-analysis blank on study habits was prepared, and 567 junior high school and 6oo senior high school pupils enrolled in the Columbia Junior and Senior High School were asked to rate themselves on their study habits. The blanks were filled out during a home-room period. Since no child was compelled to answer the questions, some pupils did not fill in the blanks. No emphasis had been placed on general study habits before the pupils were asked to fill out the blank, although individual teachers had done some work on methods of study in their respective classes. The results of the self-analysis blank are shown in Table I. Use of schedule.-Three hundred and forty-seven (61 per cent) of the junior high school pupils have regular schedules for work, and 220 (39 per cent) do not have regular schedules. Of the 575 senior high school pupils, 51 per cent have, and 49 per cent do not have, regular work schedules. Fifty-six per cent of all the pupils have regular work schedules. The percentage of junior high school pupils who